It’s no secret to readers of the “Future’s Guardian” series that our main heroine, Galatea Future, is not originally from the world of Champions Online. She was brought over from another universe and from an alternate timeline that she herself helped to destroy. Stripped of her god-like powers and “reset” to her base abilities, Galatea has been doing everything she can to not only help the people of her new adopted universe, but to also help herself do the one thing she wasn’t able to do before… and that was to live as herself and not just serve as a “guardian”.

But now, recent events in this issue have opened a new world to Galatea. One that has never been seen in Battlerock Comics, but has been somewhat familiar to longtime fans of science fiction.

While we cannot reveal what that world is, series creator David 2 says that he is glad to be able to introduce it to readers.

“Part of the frustration with doing characters that cross over from different universes and different platforms is that I can’t really show too much of that other world in this comic,” he says.

“Each ‘universe’ that my characters appear in are owned by certain companies. If specific content from one company appears, I have to give them credit to appease their copyright ownership. And if I introduce content from another company, not only do I have to give that other company credit as well, but I also risk getting a notification from either company that says that I can’t include that content. That’s part of the reason why all the content seen in ‘Future’s Guardian’, including flashbacks from that previous world, has been done through the eyes of Champions Online. This is their universe, so we have to see things through their eyes.”

But the content in Issue #14 is different, according to David 2.

“In this instance, we are dealing with content from the same company. A different universe, with different characters, but from the same developer. We feel this gives us a little leeway to introduce that new universe to readers briefly enough while keeping the integrity of all the characters intact.”

David 2 also says that the issue will have a connection to recent issues of the CoX Comics series “The Crucible”.

“It’s been fun working with (Crucible creator) Von again to collaborate on our respective series. While this will not be a direct tie-in to his current storyline, it will establish a connection between Galatea and a certain group featured in ‘The Crucible’.”

Check out the issue synopsis for Issue #14:

Following the events of Issue #13, Galatea finds herself in a strange place and in a strange life.

Where is she is a surprise.

What happens next will shock you.

Find out how it ties in with the recent events in “The Crucible”, and be prepared for a most unexpected cameo appearance.

The cover itself gives some modest hints as to where Galatea ends up. And it’s clearly not Iowa.

Future’s Guardian #13 soars online!

Following the events in “Psilence of Conscience”, we catch up with what Galatea Future is up to as she is burying her mind into a dangerous assignment in the radioactive hot-zone of Burning Sands. Surrounded by irradiated mutants and PRIMUS officials with their own agenda, Galatea is there to learn what happened to cause two former heroes to become suicidal villains.

Plus, Starlett has a few secrets that could be exposed if Markman Gold doesn’t get what he wants. Will she give him what he is asking? Or will he expose her to the world?

Battlerock Comics Announces Rating For “Future’s Guardian”

The return of “Future’s Guardian” at the end of November will include something new for the comic series… a content rating.

The MMO Comic Index Content Rating System is a voluntary rating system set up by the City of Comic Creators as a way to provide an easy-to-understand advisory of the content in fan-made comic book. It is similar to the voluntary content employed by major comic publishers, as well as the content advisory used by game publishers of multiplayer role-playing games such as “Champions Online”, “DC Universe Online”, and “Worlds of Warcraft”.

Comic Creator and publisher David 2, who also developed the MCICRS, says that using the rating system is a matter of responsibility.

“The rating system is useful tool for publishers, especially when it comes to fan-made comics. Fan-made comics are under no obligation to hold themselves to any kind of content limits when it comes to things such as violence, nudity, and profanity. So to include any kind of advisory about the content that people can see that indicates whether or not a comic is made with adults or children in mind cuts down any potential outrage.”

The first rating system for comic books was imposed on publishers in 1954 as an alternative to government censorship. The Comics Code Authority was an independent body that certified content on comic books that would be published and sold in stores and newspaper stands. The CCA would issue a stamp that would be displayed on the cover of that publication to certify that the content inside met their standards.

The CCA was discontinued in 2011 and, in a twist of irony, all rights and the stamp became the property of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, one of the strongest critics of comic book censorship. The CCA’s code was replaced by the various content advisories employed by major publishers, including DC Comics and Marvel Comics.

The MCICRS was released in 2014, after “Future’s Guardian” went on its prolonged hiatus. With the return of new issues, though, David 2 made the decision to include the series with the advisory system starting with Issue #13.

“Even though the content more or less remained the same content level as the MMO it’s based on, I didn’t want to take the chance that people would assume this publication was similar to the content in other comic series published here. I want to reassure people that the content hasn’t changed, and the best way to do that is to include the content advisory.”

The MCICRS has four levels of advisory based on content, mirroring the content advisory used by the game publishers. The lowest is “E for Everyone”, and the most extreme is “M for Mature”.

Battlerock Comics has given the “Future’s Guardian” series the second-lowest rating, “T for Teens”, which matches the content advisory for the Champions Online MMO. This means that the content can include mild violence, censored language, and suggestive themes. This can include zombies, sorcery, and suggestive attire and dialogue.

The MCICRS icon will appear on all future covers of “Future’s Guardian“, starting with Issue #13, which goes online on November 30th.

“Future’s Guardian”, the series set in the world of the Champions, will be resuming its stories, starting with Issue #13, which is scheduled to be released on November 30th.

Creator/Editor/Publisher David 2 says that it was never his intention to leave “Future’s Guardian” for that long of a time.

“This is still a one-man operation”, he says. “It’s really a matter of how much time you can put into any one project. I had an opportunity to resume my stories in the now-defunct ‘City of Heroes’ using some unusual means, and I wish to keep them going, but at the same time, I had this still on the back-burner.”

“Next thing I know, four years have gone by.”

When last we saw the once-and-former Omega Incarnate heroine, Galatea Future was experiencing the worst day of her new life. Her best friend in this world had become the supervillain Malizia, based on Galatea’s own memories of the “other city”. Malizia actions jeopardized the legal career of Candace Sinclair, and threatened to overturn the legal decision that liberated Galatea from Markman Gold. Even worse, publicity over Malizia affected Galatea’s civilian life as a proposed film deal based on her book series fell apart.

With her best friend in a special “hot sleep” chamber while she is purged of all things Malizia, Galatea is eager to do anything to get away from it all. Thankfully, her friends and allies have a place just right for her: Burning Sands.

“Burning Sands is one of those locations that seems to have a lot of things going on at the same time,” said David 2. “It’s based on a real-live location – White Sands, New Mexico – but then Champions put their own surreal twist to it, so it’s the place where America went absolutely crazy with all sorts of nuclear testing. And then they ended up creating this giant villain named ‘Grond”, and he inspires followers, and they form their own community in the middle of the most irradiated part of the world. So you have all sorts of mutated people living in the radioactive ruins of buildings with nuclear warheads littered all over the place. And some of those warheads are still active.”

But as any player of Champions Online would tell you, the desert is more than just radioactive hot zones.

“There’s a strange version of ‘Westworld’ there,” said David 2. “There is a literal ghost town full of ghosts. Some genius made the decision to put a Super-Super-max prison there. And if that’s not extreme enough, there is Area 51. And we know from Issue #12 that something is still there.”

David 2 says he doesn’t know how much of the in-game content in the desert will be incorporated into the comic yet. Instead, he is focused more on getting the characters caught up.

“Four years is a long time to get caught up on things,” he said. “Global politics have changed dramatically since then. Thankfully the one thing that has remained stagnant during that time is Millennium City.”

David 2 credits fellow comic creator V. Phillips (aka .Ra) in reigniting the interest in Champions Online through his own publication at CoX Comics.

To mark the return of “Future’s Guardian”, we offer this free 1600×900 widescreen wallpaper of Galatea ascending from the pits of the wasteland. This same breathtaking image was also used for the issue’s cover.

(Click on the image to view it full-sized. Right-click on the image to save to your computer.)

“Future’s Guardian” #13 is scheduled to be released online on November 30th.

When last we saw Watcher Twelve and his catgirl companion Synnamon Kitten in the pages of “The Crucible”, they were fleeing from a rampaging Egyptian death god in Paragon City. Thankfully said god was distracted by Furia Powers.

Well, now the wandering spirit and his companion have ended up in the world of Champions Online! And it doesn’t take long for Twelve to get involved with something serious. Fortunately, there’s something about a Watcher that catches the attention of another member of the “Powers” family… namely the alternate-future version of Galatea Powers, now known as Galatea Future. The former-omega-incarnate hero with a thousand years under her belt happens to know a thing or two about travelers like Twelve. But will she be able to help the two get through their visit in Millennium City? Find out!